


Family Struggles

by thejudgingtrash



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 02:54:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5989558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thejudgingtrash/pseuds/thejudgingtrash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Percy and his family moved from San Francisco to New York, they didn't expect to run into *that* many problems. Eh, well it's the Jacksons. And their family struggles. Percabeth and other ships, Rated T</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family Struggles

**Family Struggles**

_Chapter One: New Yorker Struggles_

Summary: When Percy and his family moved from San Francisco to New York, they didn’t expect to run into *that* many problems. Eh, well it’s the Jacksons. And their family struggles.

 

Percy POV

 

“Move douche!” My older brother Theseus pushed me out of the way. “Hey!” I yelled. I nearly dumped the moving box with all my clothes and XBOX games. It was stupid to through them all together, I know. But I’m a lazy little shit and my mom would’ve murdered me if I hadn’t had packed already. Or something like that. “Percy, can you bring this to your father’s room later?” Mom walked through the new kitchen and left his trident resting on the wall. Her light blue eyes twinkled with delight as she brushed her brown strand out of her face. Her entire posture seemed to radiate one thing: _finally being home_. Being able to relax.

“Yeah, leave it there.” I said. “Thank you, honey.” She walked into the living room. Our new house had three stores and even a swimming pool on the balcony! The first floor was just the kitchen, the living and dinner room, a small restroom and a storage room. The second floor had the boys’ rooms and a bathroom. The third floor had our parents’ bedroom, their bathroom, their study and the balcony with our awesome new pool.

At the question of how much the house cost dad just responded with “Way too much! If you think I’d cover your college education, then you’re wrong! Start working from now on! Use your car for something useful!” Mom just laughed it off.

“Sorry!” Black wisps vanished in front of me and flew into the next room. Something broke or fell at least. “ORION!” Theseus yelled from the hallway. I winced. _Our new neighbors must love the Greek atmosphere here already_ I thought. “Sorry!” Our youngest brother repeated. “Orion Hydros Jackopoulous! What have you done?!” Mom got involved, which pretty much meant a death sentence. My best advice on surviving: do not fuck with Sally Jackopoulous. _Never_.

The kitchen door closed. “The last one, finally.” My eldest brother Triton sighed. He had his long hair with a shaved side tied into one of these awful man buns (which kinda suited him. Don’t tell him. We don’t need to inflate his already massive ego), toned sunglasses on his nose and was chewing bubble gum. “What did Orion do again?” I simply shrugged. “Probably knocked over yaiyai Rhea’s antique vase. I dunno.” Triton simply shook his head and put his box on the kitchen table. His right hand was playing with his smart phone. That’s what you get when you’re Tumblr and Instagram famous like he was. Lots of people that don’t want to leave you alone and annoying notifications 24/7.

I took the trident (somehow), left the kitchen and walked into my room. It was painted in a light sea green, to match my eyes and was pretty much chaotic. Yup, it felt like home. _Should I clean up the mess now or should I leave it and get grilled by mom?_ I weighed as I put the moving box onto the floor and decided to bring Dad his trident and to clean up afterwards. “Baba?” I asked loudly and heard a “Naí?” from above. I walked upstairs again and found him in the study. He was sorting all sorts of papers and folders. The room had the perfect view over the city as well as a lot of ocean themed stuff in it. There were two aquariums, one with expensive kois and another with a baby octopus called Rhode. She hated me, but oh well. Also, there was a giant golden anchor in one corner! Dad was a Marine Biologist and owed a pet shop chain called ‘ _Atlantis’_.

“Percy?” Dad smiled at me. My father Poseidon was tall (however me and Triton were taller. I hit 1,85m and Triton almost 1,90m, so I was like two centimeters taller than dad was), had short black hair and a full beard with Greek curly hair. We shared the same sea green eyes which could easily shift from humor to raging anger. Apart from that he was very muscular. Every time I see him running around in a business suit I find myself questioning how he didn’t rip the suit coat and the shirt Hulk style. Seeing him next to petite and thin Mom was always weird. But they were a perfect match for each other.

“Your trident.” I handed it over. “Oh yes, thank you, gíos.” The trident wasn’t really a trident. We called it so because back in Greece, where we lived more than ten years ago, Dad had a small fishing boat. We’re Pontic Greeks and lived near Thessaloniki in the north of Greece back then. Dad’s trident was a paddle in reality and he used it to navigate the boat with all of us four annoying little boys. The trident had a trident carved on it because Dad thought it was funny. Mom thought it was cute back then. I dunno why though.

“What has Orion done this time?” I simply shrugged. “No idea. But mom’s currently grilling him.” Dad laughed and showed the laugh lines around his eyes. He had that special loud, rich and contagious booming laughter that would even leave the mightiest thunder god envious and one that could rival an earthquake.

“Uh huh. Safí!” Mom came into the study. She was talking on the phone. “Hera and Zeus are inviting us for dinner.”

“How about no?” Dad retorted.  Mom’s deprecating stare met Dad’s innocent sheepish smile. “We’ll see you next Saturday!” Mom hung up. “Salome!” Dad crossed his arms. “Come on, Poseidon! It’s your brother! He’s family. And Hades and his family will come as well.”

“But it’s Zeus! Mister _I-Own-An-Entire-Airline-And-You-Aren’t-Half-As-Successful!_ The most annoying baby brother anyone could wish for!” Mom sighed and I decided to leave. As amusing as it was watching them bicker, my unfinished room would just pave the way for an angry sea god and his sea god wife to murder me.

“Percy?” Theseus handed me a couple of black boxers. “These are yours. Why did you leave them in my stuff?” The resemblance to dad was scary. Same haircut, same beard style (Theseus’ beard was slightly shorter), same deep voice, same physique, practically the same facial features, if Theseus hadn’t inherited mom’s way of smiling and her birthmark under his left eye that all of us shared. There were multiple incidents were I almost called Dad Theseus and vice versa. They didn’t only happen to  me! “They’re Orion’s.” I pointed out.

Theseus muttered several Greek curses as he run off for our brother. _They will be the death of me_ , I thought still somewhat amused as I closed the door to my room.

 

*****

 

We were at the dinner table which was stacked with food, something this family loved. Good that Mom was a professional cook and baker. Her bakery ‘ _Sally’s’_ opened up the fifth branch in the US three months ago and the sales did very well. Each of us had filled up the plate at least twice. Due to heavily exercising we did not gain weight so fast, thank the gods.

And as always we talked. We talked loudly and everyone at once. “So, you two.” Dad’s gaze shifted to me and Orion, who’s hair was messier and longer than mine so that he had to brush his black wisps out of his eyes every five seconds. “Are you looking forward to school?” Our annoyed facial expressions must have equally appeared to be funny, because the rest broke into loud laughter. “Glad that we’re though with that.” Triton and Theseus high fived each other. I just rolled my eyes.

“What? You’re almost finished. Two high school years left.”

“Thanks for reminding me, Theseus.” Theseus grinned devilishly. “And what about me?” Orion grumbled and looked pissed at the peas on his fork. “Well the tough stuff begins now, baby brother.” I said as I cut into the lemon chicken. Triton laughed. “What hard stuff? He’s fourteen! That’s still the _Girls-Have-Cooties-Phase_ , right?” The booming laughter of Dad, Theseus and me equaled an earthquake. Pretty sure of that. “Oh you meanies! Leave my poor baby alone!” Mom shook her head amused. Everyone cooed.

Orion’s head turned red and he was super offended. “How about a glass of wine?” Dad suggested. “Yeah!” Triton roared. “Well you certainly do not need any alcohol, son.” Mom retorted. “Oh! Can I have his glass?”

“No!” All of us declined. Orion leaned back into his seat, more offended than before. “You’re still under aged.” Mom said. “What about Percy?”

“He could easily sire a child. He counts as an adult.” Dad explained as he grabbed a bottle from the Greek armoire. “Not that I would want any children at my age.” I said dryly. “No, no, Percy. Don’t ruin your life yet.”

“Hey!” All of us except for Mom yelled. “Poseidon!” Mom rolled her eyes but continued to grin.

 

*****

The next morning was hell. Mondays are the worst. The only person that wasn’t a moody zombie was Mom, because she’s pretty much the personification of happiness. I finished brushing my teeth as Theseus was showering and Triton shaved his beard stubbles. “Orion, we’ll leave in twenty minutes!” I yelled from the bathroom. Of course my baby brother decided to sleep in!

It’s not like we’ve never been in Goode High before and this would only be the first day. “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.” I left the bathroom as he walked in. “ORION!” Triton’s screaming could only be the sign that the youngest had decided to take a dump right now. _Why… why didn’t Mom and Dad stop right after me?_ I rubbed my temples.

“Morning, honey.” Mom greeted me as I sat down for breakfast. Dad was dressed but he looked like his face would fall into the scrambled eggs any minute. “Poseidon, you need to leave soon.” The smell of coffee seemed to work like nectar for him. “Where are your brothers? Triton and Theseus need to be at NYU at eight but you and Orion need to be at school a quarter of an hour earlier. And New Yorker traffic is horrendous.”

“Orion overslept.” Mom rolled her eyes. “Typical.”

“Wait. When again did you have to leave for your bakery?” Dad asked. “At nine.” Mom shrugged. “Totally unfair.” Dad and I remarked. The missing three brothers arrived shortly and Orion stuffed his mouth full with pancakes. “Can we go now?” I said to Orion as I looked on my iPhone. We would definitely be late. He chucked down a cup of cocoa and nodded.

“Have fun boys and good luck! Percy, you know the way.” Mom kissed our cheeks and ruffled our hair. “Mom.” I said blushing. “Poseidon!” Mom turned around. “Yeah, yeah! Same, children.” Dad’s zombie mode was activated again. “I’ll wake all of you at five thirty tomorrow! Sharp!”

We all groaned.

* * *

 

Orion jumped into the passenger seat and pulled out a notebook. “What’s that?” I asked as I started the motor and shifted into the first gear. “Mom’s new story.” He replied as he read. “Oh, that Marius Cheek and the Asgard Gods thingy?”

“No, she had finished that last month. It’s the Trials of Apollo! Something completely new. Her fans annoyed her about Perry and the other nine, which means I annoyed her. And now she continues!”

“Huh.” I made. “I thought she would stop the Perry Jordan and the Olympians Saga. Leave the notebook in the car. We don’t want you to lose the precious story. And I wanna read after you’ve finished!” Mom wasn’t just terrific cook and baker but a fantastic writer as well. Instead of reading us stories she just made some up and told us them. Everyone of us had a specific saga. Since I loved everything from Greek mythology (I mean come on. My dad’s name is Poseidon, his brothers are Zeus and Hades and his older sister’s Hestia. Yaiyai was called Rhea, pappoú Kronos, his mother Gaia and her mother’s last name had something with Khaos it!), I got the amazing demigod saga where I saved the world.

Mom eventually typed it up and changed the names. Theseus printed it out one day and sent it to a big publisher without telling her. Just like that. A few months later a million dollar contract flew into our house and mom’s pseudonymous ‘Rick Riordan’ (in order to honor her dead uncle Richlos, but Rich Riordan sounded stupid - quote from Orion at the age of nine) who slayed the New York Times Best Sellers List for years, was born. Two series of books, a Greek-Egyptian and a Norse crossover later, the publisher thought about selling some rights to make a movie about Perry Jordan.

We finally arrived at Goode High and saw a couple of students hurry into the building. I parked the car and we both climbed out. “Well, shit.” Orion said. I hit his back of the head. “Your own fault, ilíthie! Now let’s move!” We ran into the building and ignored the curious looks of our fellow students. “Who are they?” I heard several people whisper as well as a “So pretty!” and “Damn he’s hot!” But it didn’t matter, Orion and I had to get to the administrative office. I saw a huge blonde curly mane walk besides me, but I kept pushing Orion forward.

We knocked at the principal’s office. “Ah, quite late. But there you are. You may enter.” We entered and I closed the door behind me. “Thank you and we’re sorry, Sir.” The fat director called Mister Dionysos just waved it off. _Is his head purple?_ I questioned myself, but remained silent. “Mister Orkun Hyperion Jackson and Mister Peter Thomas Johnson, right?” Orion and I exchanged confused glances. _What?_ “Uhm, it’s Orion Hydros and Perseus Thalassos Jackopoulous.” I corrected him. “Yeah, yeah. Well, your schedules, Mister Johanson and Mister Jackson.”

Orion sniffed. “Is that alcohol?” He asked in Greek and looked up to me. He was still quite short, but he would probably grow up to be a giant like me or Triton. “What have you said?” Mister Dionysos asked. “Oh, it just smells like… Vodka.” I said slowly. “Nonsense! This is just pure water. Innocent sweet and pure water.” He slurred and pointed to his empty cup. A single hiccup followed. “Okay. Sure.” I looked to Orion. “He’s definitely an alcoholic.” I said to him in Greek with a low voice. Orion nodded.

“Here!” The principal shouted and handed us our schedules. I had Orion’s and Orion had mine. We exchanged. “And now go to your classrooms!” We left. “That dude was weird.” Orion commented. “Hell yeah. I got AP Greek now and then Biology.”

“History, followed by Home Economics.” He read. “Home Economics?” My little brother just shrugged. “I’m a decent baker, right? Would make sense.” That’s true. Triton was an excellent cook and Orion a fantastic baker. I was pretty decent at both, well I couldn’t make something fancy like a wedding cake or Filet Mignon, but I could manage adulthood without take out daily. Theseus however, inherited unfortunately Dad’s ability to burn water. They’re both banned from the stove for eternity. Mom’s wise words. They both were however the Lords of the Sandwiches, Salads and Wraps.

“We’ll see each other on the parking area after school?” I nodded. We parted our ways as we ran off to find our classrooms.

 

~~Percy POV~~

 

Annabeth sat with her best friends Thalia, Silena and Katie in the front row. Mr. Chiron Brunner, their Greek teacher, wrote something on the White Board. Despite his disability, as he was sitting in a wheelchair, he was quite energetic. “So what’s with your cousin?” Katie asked and drew little flowers on her exercise sheet. Thalia shrugged at scratched her right ear. The natural black hair had previously been dyed blue and shaved, which had a cool effect.

“I suppose he’s late?”

“Was he one of the two black haired guys? I caught a glimpse of them, but they ran off too quickly.” Annabeth barged in while doing her assignment simultaneously. “Yup.” Thalia popped the ‘P’. Mr. Brunner looked very annoyed at her but since she had straight A’s in class, due to her Greek ancestry, he didn’t say anything. “I heard my sister saying that he’s super hot and his little brother is totally a cutie!” Silena mimicked Drew’s behavior and groaned. “Orion as a cutie? Oh gods, no.” Thalia grimaced and shook her head.

“I knew him since he was a little twerp pooping his diapers. Not very _cute_. Okay now, where the fuck is Percy? Oh, there he is.” Annabeth and the rest of the students turned as a tall tanned student stepped in. Annabeth’s heart stopped and her gray eyes widened. Some of the girls in the back squealed in delight. That young man, no that _embodiment_ of a Greek god was Thalia’s _cousin_?! “Ah! Kaliméra!” His chiseled face cracked a grin and Annabeth thought she had to die. Messy black hair, curved eyebrows, the sight of an Adam’s apple, high cheekbones and his eyes… Green mixed with blue streaks. They looked like waves: sea green, beautiful, light and bright.

He talked Greek with a deep voice and was speaking so fast and fluently that it caught everybody off guard. That Percy guy and Mister Brunner chatted and laughed as if they’d been lifelong friends. His Greek was even better than Thalia’s! “My dear cousin is a show off!” Thalia interrupted the bonding of Mr. Brunner and Percy. That Percy guy held his cousin’s gaze and revealed his bright white teeth again. “How could I forget you, Thals?” He asked jokingly. “They’re related to each other? Ugh.” _Clarisse_ Annabeth thought.

“Well class… I guess since most of you didn’t understand our conversation… Mister Jackson, would you be so kind and introduce yourself to the class?” The new student turned to the class and spoke about himself. That he came from Greece just like Thalia but remained there longer, their fathers were brothers, he talked about moving from San Francisco to New York due to his parents’ jobs and that he had two older brothers as well as a younger one who was currently a freshman.

“Mister Jackopoulous, please take a seat next to Mister Underwood.” Grover, the dark skinned boy with a dark brown afro and knee problems since his birth nodded. Percy walked off and Annabeth couldn’t help but stare at him. Something Katie and Silena saw. A cunning smile formed on the lips of the latter.

 _Either way’s ignoring the stares of the girls in the back or he doesn’t realize them_ Annabeth concluded as he casually went on to joke with Grover. _We’ll see if he’s a huge jerk, or not…_

*****

 

Orion sat down next to the blond guy who’s smile was already annoying the living crap out of him. “Hi, I’m Apollo.” He introduced himself with twinkling cerulean eyes. “Orion.” Orion replied. Even though he was a freshman and everyone was new at school, he felt excluded. Most of the students knew each other from Middle School and Orion was pretty much the only unknown newbie.

Their history teacher Dr. Thorn looked very annoyed at the two talking boys. “Apollo, stop talking.” The girl sitting next to blondie shunned him. She sat straight in her chair and kept her auburn hair in a braid. Her eyes locked with Orion’s for a short time and Orion hoped he didn’t blush. Her eyes were light gray, they almost appeared to be molten silver. Her posture was stiff yet graceful.

Orion turned immediately. “Mister Jackson -”

“Jackopoulous.” Orion corrected his teacher. Dr. Thron looked at his attendance list and frowned. “Yes right.”

“Well, most people don’t get that right, but oh well.” Orion shrugged and played with his pen. “Whatever. Could you compare the situation of the woman in the Industrial Revolution to now?” Thorn smirked. He thought that Orion hadn’t paid attention. Little did he know that Orion was an avid reader of pretty much… anything.

“Of course the working condition and wages were horrible. Shifts way over ten hours, no maternity leave, earning less than men, still having to look after the children on their own, which were way more than now, etcetera. In comparison, women nowadays however can live way more freely due to -”

“Absolute bullcrap!” Apollo’s sister screamed and jumped up. The class looked at her in shock except for two girls. They grinned devilishly. “Women still suffer! Chauvinism and the patriarchy puts us _down_! We earn less, we do not have any rights over our bodies! Nothing has changed!” The class looked at her either in awe (the girls) or with fear (the boys - except for two).

“So… What you’re saying is that the situation for women hasn’t changed within the last… Let’s say 150 years?” Her intimidating gaze wasn’t working on him and it seemed to piss her more off. “Yes.” Orion blinked. _Once_. He was running wild in his mind, having dozens of examples to shut her ignorant statements down. “Okay.” The black haired boy just said. Triton warned him about these kind of people. Some may call them Feminazis, others Social Justice Warriors. People that cling to anything which might be offending to someone somehow. Not to be misunderstanding, Orion considered himself just like the rest of the family to be a feminist.

There was no other choice with Salome ‘Sally’ Jackopoulous as your mother. But people like Apollo’s sister were still annoying as heck. Ignorant in their own kind of way. “Miss Hunter, that is not how history or politics rather work. Or the law. I suppose you should educate yourself more.” Some students snickered, Orion just grinned but Miss Hunter’s angry stares were only meant for him. The sea green eyed boy stopped and focused on his textbook. Apollo next to him just laughed. It was soft and melodic and absolutely not fitting for this situation. “Ouch!” His sister appeared to have hit him.

 _How in the heavens did I end up here?_ Orion asked himself and hid his already tired face in his history book.

 

*****

 

“Well my great-grandfather’s from Ithaca. So that makes me compatriot.” Odysseus grinned at his new friend. His hand ran though his long brown locks. Theseus and his new friend walked around the campus after the launch event for the new freshmen. Just like Theseus, Odysseus was 21 years old. Both had waited for a while before making the decision of going to university and study the right thing.

Theseus laughed. “Pretty sure that isn’t how it’s supposed to work. And Ithaca? Well Thessaloniki’s not really around the corner.” He added. “Ody! There you are!” A petite girl with bangs and dyed black hair ran towards them. “I looked everywhere for you!” She complained and pouted. “Theseus, this is my girlfriend Penelope. Penelope, Theseus.” Both shook their hands and smiled at each other. “Well, Theseus. Don’t trust this guy. He has the worst orientation sense anyone could wish for.”

“Oh really? It seemed fine to me.” Theseus said jokingly. “Yeah, listen to him!” Odysseus agreed. “Oh please.” Penelope rolled her eyes. “He needed twenty minutes to find the way to a party.” Theseus cocked his eyebrow. “So?” He asked. “The party was in the neighbor building and he only busted a move, when I wrote him that several douche bags were hitting on me!”

Odysseus raised his hands in a defending manner. “Well I was right in time for kicking some ass!” Theseus laughed and Penelope joined in. “Well missing the neighbor building is quite sad. Especially with loud music?” Odysseus’ girlfriend nodded. “Okay, do not trust me when it comes to orthography and other geographic bullshit, alright? Alright.”

“So what are you studying, Penelope?” Theseus asked Penelope after a few seconds of silence. “Digital Art and Design. You, Theseus?”

“Latin and Greek. I hope to become a teacher one day.”

“What?” Odysseus (who was studying Social and Cultural Analysis) and Penelope said at the same time way too loud. Several people turned around. Theseus blushed. “What?”

“Did not think you were the teacher kind.” Penelope explained. “Yeah, I thought more like engineering or something more in the science field.” Odysseus added. “Well, I was thinking rather something in the media or communications. I think you’d make an awesome radio host with your voice and personality.” Theseus grinned at Penelope. “Thank you - Oh! I’m so sorry!”

Theseus had bumped directly into a woman. Her folder with loads of papers fell on the ground. She carefully lowered herself, not wanting to taint her grey pencil skirt. Theseus helped her to collect all of her belongings. “Oh, thank you.” The woman thanked with a calm voice. She looked Theseus in the eyes and both of them remained in complete awe. Intelligent, analyzing gray eyes meet awoke clever sea green ones. Curly dark blonde hair framed her face. Theseus looked down on her folder. **P. Athena C**.

 _Athena, the Greek goddess of Wisdom and War_ , he immediately associated.

 

*****

 

Triton sat down on the grass with his new acquaintance Patroclus and his boyfriend Achilles. The three boys studied Photography together and it had immediately clicked. A still delicate bond of friendship had formed. The fact that all of them hated homophobe Hector and his whiny twin Paris, from their class, had helped. Achilles was a ray of sunshine while Patroclus was the quieter counterpart.

Achilles joked about their Professor Diomedes. He was old and boring. Patroclus laughed while Triton was already working and took several pictures. “What do my young eyes see here?” A thick French accent. The boys froze and turned to a young man. He had light blue eyes and a scar on a cheek bone. His hair was a mess of several dyed colors. He looked like a walking rainbow. The strands were long but it had been originally blond. That was what Triton guessed from his eyebrows and eyelashes. He was tall, slim and handsome. His entire outfit was black. The shoes, the tight jeans, the jacket. A walking contrast.

His crooked grin fascinated the eldest Jackopoulous brother. Triton thought that the weird guy would be the perfect model. And his blue eyes focused only at him. The guy had a piercing gaze which made Triton shiver. Suddenly, he bowed down in front of all three. “My name’s Delphin Dauphin. A pleasure.” He smiled at Triton and winked at him as well.

Triton’s eyes widened. “… Okay?” He sounded very confused. Achilles and Patroclus in the background were smiling knowingly (Achilles’ smile however didn’t seem to be as innocent as Patroclus’) and began whispering things to each other. Triton didn’t pay them any attention. This Delphin guy ( _Interesting_ _name_ , he thought) had his complete attention. He was perfect model material for possible weird artistic pictures.

“It seems, I have to go. Achilles, Patroclus... Triton… I hope, we’ll see each other again.” He pulled a hand out of his jacket and threw blue glitter into the air. The three sitting boys looked around them in confusion as Delphin got lost. “Well… That was interesting.” Patroclus said. “How did he know our names?”

“Yeah.” Achilles added. “Also, he seemed to be very interested in you, Triton.”

“Me?” Triton shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. Apart from that, I’m not really into guys.” _I think_ , he finished the sentence mentally.

 

*****

 

Orion was late. As always. The second period had already started. Apollo was way too clingy and annoying. The blond boy didn’t even think for a second to leave Orion alone. Only the bell saved him from further harassment. _I don’t like poetry and haikus are the worst_ Orion complained after listening to Apollo’s horrible attempts of creating so called ‘ _art’_.

“That Orion boy was sooo annoying.” A tall girl with ginger hair from the history class said as the teacher was missing. “Exactly.” Apollo’s sister agreed. They were talking loudly in the back of the class. Orion counted nine girls in the class who were divided into two cliques: the one around Apollo’s sister with five girls and another more quieter group with four girls.

“Well Artemis. What did he look like?” A girl from Apollo’s sister’s clique asked. “Black messy hair, weird green eyes -”

“Somewhat tanned, baggy blue hoodie and tight black jeans?” The Persian princess with a braided side tail and cold black eyes added. “Yes! How do you know?” The girl, ( _Artemis_ , Orion now memorized) pointed towards the door which Orion just closed. “What?!” Artemis screamed. “What are you doing here?! This is a class just for girls! Get lost!”

“Says who?” Orion asked offended. He was a _marvelous_ baker (and cook sometimes)! “Me!” Orion just shook his head. “So what you’re saying is… Despite neither knowing me nor my talents that I don’t deserve to be in this class just because I am a boy?” The room was quiet. Everyone focused on the two arguing freshmen. “Exactly.” The auburn haired sneered and crossed her arms. Orion blinked _once_.

“And that isn’t sexist because…?”He dragged out. She just laughed and it sounded like a lunatic’s laughter. “Because everyone knows that you can only be sexist towards girls!” Orion felt how his eye twitched. Perplexed he looked around in the class only to comprehend that all of the girls agreed with that twisted logic. “Theé mou!” The young boy just sighed. The door slammed open. “I’m so sorry class! Oh! We have a _boy_ in here! Hadn’t had that in years!” The teacher, a voluptuous woman with curly brown hair and green eyes smiled at Orion. The smile which reminded Orion of his mother as well as his aunt Hestia who remained in Greece, made him feel more secure.

“Splendid!” The teacher Miss Thrower said. “Everyone! Take a seat at your little baking stations!” Each side in the class had five rows of a miniature kitchens. It was a lengthy counter row which included a stove, an oven, a mini fridge, cupboards, a sink and a spice rack. Orion went to the back. In front of him was the ginger girl who tried to ignore his presence as much as possible and to the left was the Persian princess.

Miss Thrower went through the attendance list. Orion learned that ginger was Phoebe and Persian princess’ name was Zoë. “Since I do not know where your abilities lie, I want you to freestyle and show me your cooking and baking skills at first. Afterwards we’re going to do a more scientific approach about foods. Got it?” The class nodded. “Half an hour for each of you! Let’s go!”

Orion looked in the fridge for ingredients and pulled out a bag of potatoes and prepared a dry towel afterwards. He turned on the stove on high and put a pan filled with oil on it. His eyes wandered looked around the spice rack. Orion decided to grab salt as well as vinegar powder. _Not really a spice, but whatever_ he mentally shrugged. The youngest Jackopoulous managed to ignore the curious (or rather disgusted) looks from his fellow students.

Orion washed the potatoes and decided not to peel them. Then he let the sink fill with water again. He grabbed a wooden spoon from the cupboard and saw if the oil was hot enough. _Few bubbles. Not hot enough_ , he concluded. Orion sliced the potatoes very thinly and soaked them with water.

The room smelled heavily after chocolate, sugar and the dominant oil Orion used. Most girls preferred to bake cakes or cupcakes. Zoë was the only one except for Orion who decided to cook. She prepared a Croque Monsieur if Orion saw and smelled right.

The boy from San Francisco dried the sliced potatoes and tested the oil again. _Right temperature_ he smiled. Then, using a small chip basket he fried the potatoes in batches. Orion felt Artemis annoyed piercing glare burning his forehead. He simply ignored her. He laid the finished chips on another dry towel and turned off the stove.

The chips cooled down and Orion sprinkled them with salt and the vinegar powder. Some girls finished their decorations as a loud crunch made most of them jump and turn. Orion tastes his salt and vinegar potato chips and looked very pleased with the result. “Did you… Did you make chips?” Zoë sounded very surprised. “Yeah, want some?” She appeared to be the only girl who was willing to talk to him in a normal manner. Zoë went over to his counter and tried a chip from the towel. Her black eyes widened in shock.

“They’re delicious.” She said and grabbed another one. “What?! As if, Zoë! Get away from that boy!” Artemis exclaimed and joined her friend. She tried her chip and Orion tried everything to not burst into laughter. Her face looked completely horrified. “They… they are… _Good._ ” Miss Thower joined them. “Orion! They are perfect! Who taught you this?” Orion’s face felt hot. “Well…” he started. “My mom’s a professional cook and baker and she occasionally shows me stuff.” _With occasionally I mean everyday_ he completed the sentence in his mind.

“Wait.” Miss Thrower counted one and one together. “You’re the youngest son of Sally Jackopoulous!” Her eyes sparked in delight. “Yes?” Orion squeaked. “I am the biggest fan of your mother! Her cookbooks are legendary!”

The more of the girls joined the small circle around Orion, the more Artemis got pissed.

 

*****

 

Theseus sat down in the lecture hall. The room was well attended. He chatted with his neighbors as their professor joined them at last. “Shit!” Theseus cursed as he realized. His new professor was the beautiful woman from earlier. He could have hit himself. **Professor P. A. Chase**. _Athena Chase_. “Good morning. My name is Pallas Athena Chase. Yes, I was named after the Greek goddess.” Her eyes wandered around in the room and stuck a while as she registered Theseus sitting in her lecture.

She cleared her throat, brushed her hair out of her face and continued with her program. Athena bit her lip. She was clearly flushed. _I thought he was a professor. He looks so mature_ she cursed as she felt a light stirring in her stomach.

 

*****

 

Percy POV

 

Grover and I laughed. I had cracked another joke about our boring English teacher Mr. Blofis. It was lunch break time and Grover had finished showing me around the school a bit. “I hope they’ve got enchiladas.” Despite his inherent false position of his knee caps (he sometimes had to walk with crutches on bad days) he was a fiery and funny guy. His health didn’t let him down. “Chill! They won’t run away.” Grover snored. “This is Goode High! Be there first, or the good stuff is already gone.”

“Ouch” I just made. “However, I gotta introduce you to the crew.”

“Thalia’s gang?” I asked. “Yass!” Grover nodded. “Oh boy.” We entered the cafeteria. Despite not buying anything (I always make my own sandwiches and wraps for school), I continued standing next to Grover. We walked over to the table where Thalia, some girls from our Greek class and a couple of boys sat. One of them was - “Nicola!” I yelled as I ran towards my (usually moody) little cousin.

“Oh fuck!” I heard him mutter under his breath as I embraced him with a bear hug. “Yes, Percy. Good to see your ass finally, but please stop that! Everybody’s watching! And stick it to Nico!” I released him while laughing still. He was still pretty short but he had a better tan than uncle Hades. But just like my favorite uncle, he was wearing completely black. “What’re the bodies in your basement doing?” Uncle Hades was a coroner and the best the NYPD had ever seen. “Dad’s fine. Thanks? And Aquaman?”

“Loving the new home.” Thalia, Nico and I laughed. The rest at the table just stared at us with a total confusion. “Since we’re the children of Zeus, Hades and Poseidon -” Thalia pointed to each of us. “We joke about that a lot.”

“And of stuff that happened back in Greece, ain’t that right, Pinecone Face?” I grinned devilishly as I took a seat between Nico and Grover. Thalia’s eyes narrowed as I reminded her of her drunken dad mistaking her for… well a pinecone tree. “Shut up, Seaweed Brain!” She hissed. “Seaweed Brain?” The gorgeous blonde girl from my history class repeated. _Annabeth, I think_. She had tied her princess curls into a bun as they hadn’t been before and showed her heart shaped small face. “Yeah…” I said lamely and blushed. She examined me and despite wearing a outfit which was fine (blue lumberjack shirt and a black cardigan above that), I felt uncomfortable.

“Well, Water Boy here dived one time and had his head covered with seaweed. Looking ridiculous as always, exádelfos.” I winked at my dear black and blue haired cousin. “So Percy. Little introduction round. Yo Beckendorf! Start!” I tried to memorize all their names. Charles Beckendorf, Silena Beaurgard, Annabeth Chase (who was sitting next to Thalia of course), Katherine Gardner, the twins Travis and Conner Stoll (who supposedly weren’t twins at all as Conner was with Nico a year below us). “Do not trust them!” Nico pointed at the mischief grinning brothers. I checked my pocket to see if my wallet was still in there. They were weird.

“So, as you know. Percy T. Jackopoulous.” I ended the round. “Jackopoulous?” Conner asked as his brother put something in Katie’s fries. “Yeah, all of our fathers took the last names of our mothers and Jackopoulous was my mother’s.” I explained shrugging. “Why not changing it to simply Jackson?” Connor eyed me weirdly. “Why should we?” I retaliated.

“Why did your fathers stick not stick to their own last names? Interesting. Have I ever asked you that?” Annabeths eyes wandered from the headshaking Thalia to me. “Well our grandfather Kronos Olympia was quite the asshole and no one wanted to willingly associate with him so that -”

“TRAVIS STOLL!” Katie yelled. The brothers started to crack up. Travis had apparently ordered Mexican hot sauce from the Internet for just this little moment. The older Stoll got up and ran away from her. Katie followed him of course. “Does this always happen?” I asked the remaining seven. “Yes. Since Middle School. I hope they will date and finally leave us alone.” Thalia groaned. “Really? We’ll be able to die in peace when they’re married and child number one is on the way.” Silena reckoned and threw her long black hair over her shoulders. Conner let his head fall on the table as the rest of us broke into ugly laughter.

“C’mon, Conner. Get up.” Beckendorf encouraged him. Silena and he made a cute couple. Grover destroyed his eight enchiladas, Nico eat some of his Cesar salad, the girls talked about girl stuff and an “annoying bitch called Clarisse” as Thalia had said, and I dug into my chicken wrap. “Thalia, Nico, how’re Jason, Bianca and Hazel?”

Jason was Thalia’s little brother who went to a military academy nearby L.A. Unfortunately we couldn’t meet. Hazel, Nico’s younger cousin (Nico’s mother Maria Persephone and Hazel’s adopted mom Marie Levesque were sisters) went there as well as chance would have it. Bianca went to a private arts school and took the ballet training. “Oh they’re doing fine. They and a couple of friends are coming over for winter break.” Nico showed me a picture of Jason next to a Native American girl (his girlfriend Piper) as well as Hazel next to her boyfriend Frank. There were some dark brown locks of a dude in a corner. “That’s Leo. He’s practically the Mexican Stoll.”

“Oh wow.” I just made. “Well, where’s Orion?” Nico asked. “He’s there.” I pointed towards my little brother who was sitting next to a couple of freshmen and laughing. “Aw, he’s so cute.” Silena cooed. “No, no he isn’t.” Thalia, Nico and me rejoiced and broke into laughter.

“Sorry, way too many stories which are set back in Ancient Greece.” The bell rang. “What do you have, Perce?” Grover asked. “Math with Mrs. Dodds.” The looks the rest gave me didn’t fill me up with hope. “C’mon. I have the same class.” Annabeth said as she appeared next to me. “Is she really that bad?” I asked her. “She’s even worse.” Annabeth answered and her angelic voice sounded very hard. “Well, great.” We walked into our doom.

 

*****

 

“So how was everything today?” Mom asked as we dug into the lasagna she and Orion had made. “Good.” Dad said. “I can probably open up another store in Chicago! The request has increased.”

“Awesome dad!” All of us cheered. “Well… Uni was… Interesting. Weird people running around.” Triton followed. “Apart from you?” I asked and dodged as he tried to hit me. Theseus and Orion snickered, Dad hid his grin behind his glass of water and Mom just shook her head. “Boys! Behave!“ We let our childish fight aside. “And you Orion?” Mom asked our baby brother. “Well, there’s this super annoying pair of twins who’re called Artemis and Apollo Hunter. He’s a douche and she’s a Social Justice… Uh…”

“Warrior?” Triton proposed. “Exactly!” Orion nodded. Mom and Dad looked at each other. “We’re not supposed to understand that, right?” Dad asked as most of us laughed or grinned. “Apart from them I’ve meet pretty cool people so far like Iason or Heracles.” Orion finished and looked to me. “Well I met tons of people and thought about joining the swim team. You know, practice and stuff. And my math teacher probably hates me to death, but nothing all too complicated. What about you, Mom?”

Mom sighed. “Today was the first day and the most annoying costumer in the entire world appeared. She wanted a birthday cake which could launch sparklers and fireworks. Stop laughing! I mean that seriously. After explaining the risk of the barium nitrate and other chemicals in the cake for a while and multiple times, she went completely off and said she would find another bakery for her three year old daughter. She came back after two hours and ordered a normal chocolate cake. I guess her deathtrap cake order didn’t work at other bakeries.”

 

~~Percy POV~~

_~~Chapter One: New Yorker Struggles~~ _

 

Greek vocabs:

Baba               = Dad

Naí                 = Yes

Gíos                = Son

Safí!                = Sure!

Yaiyai             = Grandma

Pappoú           = Grandpa

Ilíthie!             = (You) Idiot!

Theé mou!      = Oh my god!

Exádelfos        = Cousin

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! My name’s Mel (or Melly if you prefer ^^). Since English isn’t my native language I hope that you can forgive my grammar and the sentence structure (which is waaaay too easy in my opinion. I’m used to my complex writing in German T__T hypotaxis ftw!).  
> Also, I felt inspired by the story “Immortal Seas” by TheseusLives on ff.net (go check that out!) which shows multiple sons of Poseidon in action (a setting I really enjoy). But now, (try to) enjoy my not well planned and spontaneously written story!
> 
> If you liked (or hated) the chapter let me know! And tell me about any embarrassing mistakes I made D: I tend to write quite lengthy and overlook my mistakes :S .  
> I wanted to write a Sally x Poseidon fanfic where both of them can just live together in harmony (I like the gods x mortal ships). Most stories around break my weak heart. And in case you’re wondering about their ages, I believe that Poseidon and Sally (who got kids very early) are 44 and 43, Triton’s 24, Theseus is 21, Percy at the age of 17 and Orion’s the youngest with 14 years :)  
> But for now, bye!
> 
> xo Mel :)


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